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Gravity is only part of the complex puzzle of our amazing cradle. There is also the microbiome, which we need to thrive long-term, small amounts of sunlight we
by forgotmypw17 6y ago
Gravity is only part of the complex puzzle of our amazing cradle. There is also the microbiome, which we need to thrive long-term, small amounts of sunlight we can't do without, massive amounts of cosmic radiation, which will kill a human rather quick without a shield like the Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere, the magnetic field itself, and probably other variables we haven't even discovered yet.
With space and robots we're very much in the situation "parents sending off their children to explore the world but unable to leave the village themselves."
- vimacs2 6y agoSome of these concerns are valid (in particular the microbiome and the possibility and probability of unforeseen variables) but others are not. Even assuming that we can't use mirror arrays to use natural lighting within habitats like O'Neil envisioned, there is nothing about sunlight that we cannot replicate with artificial lighting. In fact, we could make a safer substitute that forgoes the ultraviolet radiation. It also doesn't take that much radiation shielding to do a better job of protecting us against cosmic radiation than the Earth does. While there is 100 KM of atmosphere between us and the vacuum, that is air and of a density that drops sharply with altitude. We could easily match and exceed that protection with plating of about 20 metres. The reason why radiation is such a concern in space travel at the moment is because current launch costs prevents any but the most spartan kinds of shielding from being economically viable. Once we can construct launch assist devices like rotavators and orbital rings, that is not going to be a major limitation anymore.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoAll good points, and I,m certainly all for it. Thank you for infusing this thread with some optimism.